Context
This invention relates variously to education and training activities, media, material, games, toys and playthings. A whole gamut of [game] activities have been devised as dedicated educational, teaching, training, coaching, learning, recreational and therapeutic tools. Thus, a game activity can create and engender a favourable climate and rationale for conveying topic information ‘subliminally’, and ‘in context’.
A game activity can be used to gain analytical and decision-making skills and experience, through exercises or simulations of commercial situations—but without the [financial] risks and consequences attendant real-life action. Thus game activity can be a rehearsal for a real situation. A game activity structure can contrive individual involvement and participative immersion, jointly and co-operatively with others in a team. Ideas, inspiration and motivation can be ‘cross-fertilised’ through challenging sessions. On occasion, a game activity can prove as, if not more, effective than formal study, through group classroom lecture session or individual (book) study.
Supervision
A game activity may include specific provision for supervision—by players themselves and/or a moderator or facilitator. This is for adherence to game activity rules, resolution of queries on rule interpretation, arbitration upon disputes and to enforce general player behaviour and discipline, marking or adjudicating a final outcome.
Learning & Recreation
In principle, game activities generally can be categorised as combining learning and recreation. Even a military exercise, or war game activity, shares an element of fulfilment, to a (constructive) purpose, through personal participation and group or team membership to a common end.
Game activities may be tailored to particular age groups, or interests, and may evoke ‘real-life’ situations, such as sports or (property) trading and acquisition. Some degree of skill, knowledge, awareness, pre-disposition and assumption testing may also be required.
Management Training
A particular game activity category is dedicated to what might loosely be categorised as management training. Management game activities commonly seek to simulate, emulate, or model aspects of business, trade or commerce or organisation of business tasks. Commonly, this involves individual and collective (i.e. through team building) role playing, in a prescribed scenario, with a framework of rules and towards a defined of all objective. For example, by modelling fluctuating market conditions and simulating production and trading transactions, players can learn, from the experience of first-hand involvement, outcomes of personal or team decisions. A supervisor or moderator can help draw general and overall conclusions upon business strategies and tactics, from a particular game activity experience.
Complexity
Game activity is more widely applicable to complexity management, discussed later.
Alignment
In particular, game activity can help identify and align perceptions and decision factors, particularly with a complex interplay of factors.
Terminology
Play
The term play embraces recreation and learning. Play allows exercise of a natural blend of creative, intellectual, co-ordination and manipulative skills. Similarly, player, denotes an individuals engaged in play.
Game Activity
The expression or phrase game activity is used herein generally to embrace a structured context and participatory [conceptual] delivery vehicle, involving one or more playing pieces or elements. Playing pieces are movable—typically over a playing [surface] area—in accordance with prescribed rules. Again, those engaged in game activity are players or participants. In the broadest sense, game activity participants, or players, and indeed even onlookers (insofar as they engender a climate or backdrop, and relay encouragement or otherwise), can themselves can be regarded as playing pieces.
Tools & Toolset
Game activity constituent elements can be regarded individually as tools, and collectively as a toolset. A game activity may incorporate (disparate) other elements, such as tokens, or differentiated playing pieces. A random chance generator, such as a dice throw, can be used to trigger unexpected events, obstacles, and/or the progression of play.
Toy
The term toy embraces any structure or kit for assembly and used in a play context.
Rules
Rules may prescribe an overall game activity regime, purpose or objective and some ranking or scoring schedule for individual players. Progression through successive game activity steps or sequences and the order of participation of multiple players can be enshrined by a set of game activity rules. Game activities may be played solo or collectively, between individual players or teams of players.